Health & Society

I’m from swaying coastlines and clichéd continents. I learned languages so divergent,in places as different as vegetarian pigs and carnivorous plants. I’m from sunshine that lulls you to sleep and sand that exfoliates more than just your feet. I’m from the smell of tamales on the corner of Market. I’m from different cultures and languages, from Spanish to Kenyan. I’m from mothers yelling at their doorsteps in voices uncomprehended, they yell in different tongues but with the same expressions. “Get Back in the house” “Ingia kwa nyumbani” they shout, the same look of indignant concern mirrored in their rainbow of faces. I’m from diversity, from the world that has been […]

Sunday, 20 July, 2014 (Melbourne, Australia) Tributes were paid tonight at the opening session of the 20th International AIDS Conference to the six delegates who lost their lives aboard flight MH17. A one minute global moment of remembrance was held in their honour with eleven former, present and future Presidents of the International AIDS Society onstage together with representatives from those organizations who lost colleagues, the World Health Organization, AIDS Fonds, Stop AIDS Now, The Female Health Company, the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and members of the Dutch HIV research community A letter of condolence and support was also read out by Mr Lambert Grijns, The Dutch […]

By Betty Mujungu Kampala-Monday, July 14 2014- For most people in Uganda accessing health services remains a nightmare despite the efforts the Government has put in place to achieve the Millennium Development Goals-MDGs. The worst affected areas are the new districts where accessing health services, is more of a myth than a reality. Ntoroko district of the Rwenzori region in western Uganda is one of the worst affected in terms of Primary Health Care-PHC delivery. Four years since it was curved out of Bundibugyo. Like any other newly created district in the country, the justification for the split was to bring services closer to the people. However this justification remains […]

Rufiji, Tanzania – The rains started a few weeks ago and they never stopped. For two weeks they poured down in an almost constant barrage from the sky above. As the water continued to fall, from the ground below it began to rise, causing floods of almost biblical proportions.

Asthma patients, in Uganda, are resorting to traditional herbs, to cut the high cost of treatment. Patients, interviewed, by The Continent Observer, say they prefer using traditional herbs, for treatment because of the high cost of treatment. Some patients, use herbs while others, have resorted to drink donkey’s milk, as a remedy whenever they get attacks. Rebecca Kabuya is among the patients who use traditional herbs for treatment whenever she gets attack. Here’s a story she shared with the Continent Observer’s Joseph Elunya. I’ am a 22 year-old girl and a student in my final year at University, in Uganda. I have been battling with asthma since my childhood and […]

Newcastle, March 11 2014: Staying relevant to new generations of volunteers, Bright Sight has successfully launched its new strategic map to increase its activities of performing free operations and treatment for people who are needlessly blind. There are group of ophthalmic Doctors and Nurses who have come together to form an organisation which is aimed to help the unfortunate individuals with eye problems in Africa and other parts of the world. Various doctors across the globe are participating in this important programme. This is a non-governmental organisation known as Bright Sight. It was started with just two ophthalmic doctors and an ophthalmic nurse who have come together to respond to […]

By Joseph Elunya &Agencies Health workers in South Sudan are reporting that they have been overwhelmed by the high number of patients. The health workers who are operating from Juba’s Tomping base, which hosts over 17,000 displaced South Sudanese says they are facing tremendous challenges. According to the Hospital Commandant of Tomping Dr. Chanthy Phok, the 25 bed hospital is now host to 100 patients. “We have many women and children,” he said. “These need treatment for which the hospital was not equipped in the first place.” Notes Dr. Phok. The hospital, which is ordinarily intended for UN staff, was now dealing with pregnancies and deliveries and children’s diseases. “Treating […]